The Gods of the North
by booklover4816
Summary: On a stormy winter night in the streets of Cleveland, a small girl runs for her life. Sent by Poseidon, Percy Jackson stumbles upon her and takes her back to Camp Half-Blood. But she is no ordinary Greek demigod. She holds secret which could spell trouble for the world. And what was she doing living in Cleveland, a stronghold for a forgotten set of gods outside of Olympus's reach?
1. Chapter 1

Lightning flashed across the sky as a small figure darted down Euclid Ave. towards the overpass just past the university. The small girl let out a yelp of terror as a loud crack of thunder echoed throughout the city of Cleveland. She was terrified. It felt like the whole world was out to get her and nobody would listen.

Three hours ago she had watched in horror as some terrible creature broke into the house that she shared with her mother in the Slovene part of Cleveland. Now she was running for her life, trying to get to safety.

 _The lake_. a voice whispered in her mind. _Get to the lake, child._

"I'm scared. Želim mamica." she whimpered in response as she huddled under the bridge of the overpass.

Her mother was all she had in the world. Her father had left when she was a baby, and she didn't even know if he was alive. Now, her mother had been brutally murdered in front of her by some horrible monster. The worse part? Her mother's last word had been "Teči!" _Run!_ It was as if her mother knew this day was coming.

She was only five years old, and now she was an orphan. She had no idea where she was, or where she was going because her mother forbade her from even wandering around their neighborhood. She was downtown Cleveland near the university and the hospital in the Italian part, an area she was unfamiliar with, and she didn't even know which direction the lake was. To top it off, she was being chased by the thing that killed her mother, and she was pretty sure this unnatural winter thunderstorm was targeting her.

"Lost, moja draga?" a man's voice asked. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a man with long, beautiful blond hair and spring green eyes. He didn't look homeless, as he was dressed in nice clothing and wore a crown made of flowers. He smelled flowers, fresh dew, and the new spring grass; everything that reminded her of the trip she and her mother took over to rural Lorain county the previous spring. Something was off about him, immediately putting her on guard. He smiled sadly, as if sensing her distrust. "My poor child, I know how scared you must be. Not one set of monsters chase you, but two. And ancient laws prevent your father from interfering; otherwise he would've come to your rescue already. No matter, I do believe he sent help."

"Kdo si?" she asked, her voice on edge.

"I can not tell you that." he replied in heavily accented Slovene. "But I can lead you to safety. There is a place for children like you. But if they will accept you, I do not know. Your brother will explain more."

"Moj brat? But I d-don't have a brother."

"There is no time to explain, child. My power is weak in the winter and your pursuers rapidly approach. I also can't guarantee you safety from this storm much longer." he replied sadly. Suddenly there was a loud crashing noise of trash cans falling over, followed by the low, guttural growling of her mother's killers.

"Foolish child. You think a god can protect you from us? A Slavic god at that?" a deep, hateful voice shouted. They would be upon her in a matter of minutes.

A look of urgency appeared in the man's eyes as he held out his hand towards her. "Now or never, moja draga. You don't have the time to mistrust me. Either you take my hand and reach safety, or you die here and doom us all."

Not seeing any other option, the girl reached out and grasped his hand. Immediately, a feeling of sunshine filled her, warming her to the core and giving her hope. Leaves and flower petals swirled around her feet, engulfing her in a mini tornado. Then the world around her faded.

* * *

The next thing the girl knew, she was standing on a beach. Huge, freezing waves beat the coast line relentlessly, as if the lake was angry at the Earth and sky. Lightning still flashed brilliantly across the sky, followed by loud, angry claps of thunder. Snow and sleet came down heavily as the wind howled. Despite the weather, she somehow knew she was safe.

"Gospod?" she asked, looking around for the man from under the overpass. He had seemingly vanished into thin air. "Where are you? Come back! I do not know where to go!"

"Are you sure he told you to come here?" a voice demanded.

The girl darted behind a large rock on the beach. The cold waves lashed against her calves, causing her to shiver but she didn't dare move from her hiding place. Peering around the rock, she saw the figure of two people walking down the beach, a teenage girl with long, wind-blown, blonde hair and a teenage boy with messy black hair. They looked like an ordinary couple walking on the beach, but no ordinary couple would be out on a stormy winter night.

"I'm sure, Annabeth." the boy replied. "Poseidon said, 'Go to Cleveland, to the beach and look for a brown-haired girl defending herself with seashells.'"

"And that's it?" Annabeth asked skeptically. "Percy, if she was here, I think we would have found her by now."

 _Go to them, child._ the voice in her mind urged her. _Go before it's too late._

Suddenly, Percy tensed, causing Annabeth to look at him quizzically. But he said nothing, pulling a ballpoint pen out of his pocket and uncapping it instead. The pen grew into to a three foot long, glowing bronze sword. Annabeth, as if sensing his mood, reached towards her waist and unsheathed an ivory sword.

That's when the girl noticed what had set the couple on edge. Standing beside her was a large, hairy man with what looked like gang tattoos. His beady eyes gazed at her hungrily. She feel over and shrieked in terror as he reached, licking his lips eagerly.

"Finally! That meddlesome spring god that he was clever sending you here, trying to put you in your father's embrace. But he only delayed your death by moments." he laughed. "Now I will eat you. It's been awhile since I've had your kind."

She let out another cry of fear as she reached around the icy water blindly. Her hands wrapped around something cold and smooth. She raised her arms and flung it at the man as she cried, "Pustite me na miru!"

A small seashell bounced uselessly off the man's head. She cried out again before flinching away and covering her face with her arms. The attack she was expecting never came. Looking up, she saw the boy named Percy standing above her with his sword at his side. The man was gone, and golden dust churned in the water around her. The girl named Annabeth appeared out of thin air next to him, a Yankees baseball cap bunched up in her hands. "Is she...?"

"I think so." Percy replied.

"Put your sword away! You're scaring her!" Annabeth knelt down next to her, a concerned look in her stormy gray eyes. "Are you okay?"

"D-Da." the girl replied as she shivered, nodding her head.

Percy scanned the horizon with his sea green eyes. "We need to get her out of here. Zeus is angry tonight, and I have a feeling my Dad sent me here because of that." He looked at her. "What's your name?"

"Marija. Ime mi je Marija Vodnik." she replied, before remembering most people don't speak Slovene and translating. "My name is Marija Vodnik."

"Marija?" he repeated. "Well, Marija, I'm Percy Jackson, and this is Annabeth Chase. We're like you, and we're going to take you someplace safe. Now let's get you someplace warm and dry."

* * *

 **Translations:** **Želim mamica- I want my mommy.** **Teči!- Run!** **moja draga- my dear** **Kdo si?- Who are you?** **Moj brat- My brother** **Gospod- Mr./Sir** **Pustite me na miru!- Leave me alone!** **Da- Yes** **Ime mi je- My name is**

 **Please let me know if you see any errors. I don't know a lot of Slovene past "zdravo," "hvala," "prosim," and "čaj."**


	2. Chapter 2

The next few hours were a blur for Marija. She vaguely remembered Percy setting her in his car, a blue Prius with hooves imprinted on the hood, and Annabeth covering her up with a blanket from the trunk. She remembered giving him directions to her house. She remembered them going inside the house to get her belongings, a few family heirlooms from Slovenia, and a few other things she asked for. She remembered Percy getting on the turnpike, saying that I-80 would take them right into New York City. But she fell asleep soon after.

When she awoke it was in a soft bed, covered up to her chin with a soft, blue blanket. Nearby, she heard three voices. Percy and Annabeth were explaining what had happened to another person, a male with a gentle, yet firm voice. She didn't dare move, fearing she could be in danger.

"Chiron," Percy said, "Annabeth and I don't think her mother was mortal. If she was, the monsters wouldn't have gone that far, even if she was just in the way."

"I've never seen a monster do that to a mortal before, even the mortal parent of a demigod." Annabeth added.

The man called Chiron sighed. "Austin from the Apollo cabin is home in Oberlin visiting his mother. I will contact him and have him meet me in Cleveland, and I will investigate the death of the mother. In the mean time, we should not mention this to the girl. You said her name was Marija?"

"Yeah." Percy replied. "She said her name was Marija Vodnik."

"Marija." Chiron repeated solemnly, as if her name wasn't a good omen. "Yes, the poor girl has been through enough. I will speak with her when she awakes. In the mean time, you two should get back into the city before your absence is noticed."

She heard a screen door creaking open and slamming shut soon after. Marija felt a presence near the bed she was laying in. Daring to peak her eyes open, she looked up and saw a middle-aged man with a dark beard staring down at her. She pushed down her instinct to hide under the covers and met his eyes. He gave her a warm, reassuring smile, as if he sensed her fear.

"Marija is it?" he asked. She nodded weakly. "How much of that did you hear?"

"O-Only a little." she said, forcing herself to speak in English. Slovene was her native language, as she had been born in Ročinj, Slovenia, a small mountain village in the historical Littoral region near the border with Italy. Though they had moved to Cleveland, Ohio when she was two, Marija still remembered the language as her mother often spoke it around the house and the neighborhood. Whenever she was scared or nervous, Marija would subconsciously slip back into the familiar language of her homeland.

"Tell me, what happened in Cleveland?" Chiron inquired.

Marija sat up and stared out the window, avoiding the man's gaze. Outside, she saw what looked like strawberry fields of some sort. Nearby there was a volleyball pit and forest. Further back she could see what looked like cabins. "Moja mati is dead, yes?"

"You know the answer to that."

Tears formed at the corners of her eyes. It had all seemed like a dream when it happened. The monsters breaking in. Her mother's screams. Running past the university. The man under the overpass. Percy and Annabeth on the beach. Now, Chiron was here telling her it was all real. She wanted to scream and cry and curse the world. At only five years old everything she had ever known in the world had been ripped away from her.

Trying to hold back her tears, she looked at Chiron. To her surprise, from the waist down he was a white stallion. Normally it would have disturbed her or caused her to ask questions, but she was to tired to question it. Instead she met his eyes and asked, "Zakaj?" _Why?_

The centaur smiled sadly at her. "We will find out soon, child. In the mean time, let's get you settled into your new home."

* * *

Chiron left Marija alone for a few moments to get changed into a fresh set of clothes: a clean pair of jeans, new white sneakers, and an orange t-shirt that read "Camp Half-Blood" in Ancient Greek. She attempted to brush her long, brown hair, but failed miserably, which caused her to burst into frustrated tears. Her mother had always done her hair for her, and now it was just another reminder that her mother was no longer there.

Before Chiron could come back in, Marija rubbed her bloodshot sea green eyes in an attempt to hide evidence of her outburst. She didn't want anyone at her new, strange home to think she was a crybaby. She knew how the children in her neighborhood used to heckle other children they caught crying. She didn't want that to happen to her.

She pulled her sweater back on and stuffed her shoelaces into the side of her sneakers, as she didn't know how to tie her shoes yet. That was another thing her mother used to do for her. Just another reminder her mother was gone.

But she couldn't dwell on that because Chiron interrupted her thoughts by calling, "Are you ready, child?"

* * *

Standing in the shadows of the porch was a thirteen year old boy with shaggy black hair and a pale complexion. Marija vaguely registered slight Italian features on his face, similar to those of the owners of a small grocery in the Italian part of Cleveland that her mother used to take her to. He radiated an aura of death and darkness, which made her slightly weary.

"Ah, I'm afraid I have to get to archery practice." Chiron informed her when he noticed her. He then pointed to the boy in the shadows. "But Nico has offered to show you around. Marija, meet Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades. Nico, this is Marija Vodnik. Hopefully tonight she will be claimed."

And with that Chiron trotted off, leaving Nico and Marija alone. Marija gulped nervously as she approached Nico. "Zdravo."

Nico smiled softly, something she wouldn't expect from someone shrouded in shadows. "Well, welcome to Camp Half-Blood. Let me show you around."

Cleveland, Ohio was no place for Greeco-Roman gods or their children. That was fine by them though, having claimed both coasts. But they weren't the only pantheon around. Of course the Nordic gods had Boston and that area, the Egyptian had Brooklyn, the Aztec had the American Southwest, the Baltic (a nearly extinct pantheon that somehow managed to survive) had Chicago, the Native American pantheons had various places (Alaska, South and North Dakota, Oklahoma, etc.), and so on and so forth. Cleveland (and most of, if not all of, Ohio) was the territory of one of the most vast and obscure pantheons. One that covered thousands of miles, encompassing parts of Europe and Asia. One whose stories, gods, and myths were erased from history.

The Slavic Gods had a rich history, their influence reaching from the Alps to the Caucus region to the Ural Mountains and beyond. But all that was gone thanks to the wonder and glory that was Rome, and later Christianity. The Slavic Tribes, peaceful Nomadic people, were exploited for centuries. Slaves to the Greeks, slaves to the Romans. In fact, the very word "slave" comes from "Slav". Centuries of oppression and assimilation erased their cultural identity and suffering, wiping all memory of the Slavic Pantheon from history.

The Slavic Gods did not just feel slighted or angry. They were enraged. And they wanted revenge. Revenge against the Greco-Roman Pantheon. And they were going to get. The Greeks and Romans would never see it coming.

* * *

 **This story deals with Slavic mythology. The Slavic Pantheon is based in Northeast Ohio because of the large number of Slavs and their descendants there (especially Southern Slavs; Cleveland, Ohio has the largest population of Slovene speakers outside of Slovenia and is a sister city to Ljubljana). Ohio also has towns like Macedonia and Russia (pronounced roo-see-ah), which come from the names of Slavic countries ( there's also Athens, but that's beside the point). OSU also offers Serbo-Croatian as a foreign language. So that gives you an idea of how Slavic culture has impacted Ohio. And Ročinj (Roh-ching) is a real village in Slovenia.**

 **Translations:**

 **Mohamed mati- My mother**

 **Zakaj- Why**

 **Zdravo- Hello**

 **I am hoping to take some Slovene classes in college this year (I'm going to one of the only universities in the country that offers Slovene), so I hope to learn a lot more. Please let me know if there are any mistakes.**


End file.
